LESSON PLAN 1 A HIStorY OF IRELAND IN 100 OBJECTS, A SELECTION LEAVING CERTIFICATE, ORDINARY AND HIGHER LEVEL HIStorY James Connolly’s shirt, 1916 Where to see this object National Museum of Ireland—Decorative Arts and History, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7 Click here to find out more Book a class trip to the museum Click here to find out more CURRICULUM LINKS Syllabus: Leaving Certificate History, ordinary and higher levels Field of study: Later modern Irish history, 1815–1993 Topic: 2—Movements for political and social reform, 1870–1914 • Perspective: Society and economy • Element: Unionisation of the working classes • Case study: Dublin 1913—strike and lockout • Key personality: James Connolly • Key concept: Socialism Topic: 3—The pursuit of sovereignty and the impact of partition, 1912–1949 • Perspective: Politics and administration • Element: The 1916 Rising • Key concept: Republic RESOURCES • Video: James Connolly, working class hero, behind the ‘Watch’ button. • Extract from A history of Ireland in100 objects, behind the ‘Read’ button. • Worksheets behind the ‘Worksheets’ button. • Images behind the ‘Look’ button. • Publications: • James Connolly by Ruth Dudley Edwards (Gill and Macmillan, 1981) • Capuchin Annual, 1966 • James Connolly, his life, works and writing by Desmond Ryan (Labour Publishing Company, 1924) • The Rising: the complete story of Easter Week by Desmond Ryan (Golden Eagle Books, 1949) 2 • Portrait of a rebel father by Nora Connolly-O’Brien (Talbot Press, 1935) • All written primary sources used, which are quoted from the other resources cited above, are from Last Words as compiled by Piaras F. Mc Loughlin (OPW Dublin, 1990), courtesy of the Office of Public Works • Weblinks: • Search for ‘The 1913 Lockout’ on the Century Ireland website: http://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/ • Timeline and links to articles written by James Connolly, available at: http://www.wageslave.org/jcs/archive/ • Search Scoilnet for further web resources on James Connolly (https://www.scoilnet.ie/search/?fq=school_level%3A2&q=james%2Bconnolly) and on the Lockout (https://www.scoilnet.ie/search/?fq=school_level%3A2&q=lockout) • Dictionary of Irish Biography; on-site access facilitated through Scoilnet is now available to all schools via the Schools Broadband Network http://www.pdsttechnologyineducation.ie/. Either go directly to the Dictionary of Irish Biography website (http://dib.cambridge.org/) or log in to Scoilnet (www.scoilnet.ie) and click on the ‘Dictionary of Irish Biography’ icon. Search for James Connolly and any other key personalities. • UCC, Multitext project in history: http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/James_Connolly • James Connolly timeline on Corpus of Electronic Texts (CELT): http://www.ucc.ie/celt/connolly.html • National Library of Ireland’s Easter 1916 online exhibition: http://www.nli.ie/1916/ • Search for contemporaneous accounts of the topic’s elements and case studies on the full Irish Times Archive, which goes back to 1859 and is freely available to all schools on the Schools Broadband Network: http://www.pdsttechnologyineducation.ie/ Scoilnet also provides a link. https://www.scoilnet.ie/post-primary/the-irish-times-archive/ • Researcher’s Handbook—Limerick City Library Millennium Project (2000) by Sinead McCoole, available on the Limerick City Library website: http://www.limerickcity.ie/Library/LocalStudies/ResearchersHandbook/ • Digital images of a typescript manuscript version of the W.B. Yeats poem ‘Easter, 1916’ are available at: http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15150coll7/id/2842/rec/4 This link is useful to demonstrate a manuscript cataloguing system. LESSON AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Refer to the ‘Lesson A&O’ button for a comprehensive description of aims and objectives for the leaving certificate history syllabus. LEARNING OUtcomes—TOPICS FOR STUDY Students at both levels should be able to: • recall the main events of the element ‘Unionisation of the working classes’ from the perspective of society and economy, and of ‘the 1916 Rising’ element from the perspective of politics and administration, with particular reference to important changes identified therein they should also be able to demonstrate a basic understanding of the main causes and consequences of both; • recognise that historical study is concerned not just with the powerful and influential but also with the ordinary and anonymous; • recall the issues and events of the ‘Dublin 1913—strike and lockout’ case study, and be able to give a narrative account of these; • look at a contentious or controversial issue from more than one point of view, with particular reference to the issues highlighted in the ‘Dublin 1913—strike and lockout’ case study; and 3 • describe in some detail the role of a number of key personalities in respect of the ‘Unionisation of the working classes’ element, for example James Connolly, and address such issues as: the manner in which the key personality influenced, or was influenced by, the events described; whether the key personality was a participant in or witness to the events; and different contemporary attitudes toward the key personality. Additional learning outcomes for higher level Students should be able to: • recall the main issues and events of the ‘Unionisation of the working classes’ and ‘The 1916 Rising’, with particular reference to important changes identified therein, and show a good understanding of the main causes and consequences; • recall the issues and events of the ‘Dublin 1913—strike and lockout’ case study, and give a discursive account of these; • evaluate the role of James Connolly in relation to the main issues and events of the ‘Unionisation of the working classes’ element; • show understanding of the relevance of the key concept ‘socialism’ to the ‘Unionisation of the working classes’ element; and • show understanding of the relevance of the key concept ‘the republic’ to the ‘1916 Rising’ element LEARNING OUtcomes—WORKING WITH EVIDENCE These lessons will provide students with teaching and learning experience for their documents-based study, and will prepare students for undertaking their own research study. Students should be able to: • show understanding of the role of evidence in the writing of history. Understanding should encompass such aspects as: the difference between source and evidence, how the historian evaluates evidence, the fact that evidence may be open to more than one interpretation • identify such different types of historical sources as eyewitness accounts, public records, memoirs, letters, maps, photographs and political cartoons • interpret a range of historical sources of the types identified above and answer questions relating to their provenance, their purpose and their usefulness • draw conclusions from historical sources and use these conclusions to help form judgements about historical issues • display an awareness of objectivity in their own writing by striving to be fair-minded and unbiased • develop awareness of the location of historical data in archives, libraries, museums and in sources increasingly available online with the growth in digital humanities • appreciate the importance of using trusted sources, especially when doing research online. Additional learning outcomes for higher level Students should be able to: • explain how the word ‘history’ is variously used to describe the past itself, surviving evidence from the past and written histories • explain which types of historical sources are found in archives, libraries and museums • identify the main strengths and limitations of different sources by asking appropriate questions relating to the purpose for which they were produced, the motives of the person(s) who produced them, their historical context and their relevance to the event(s) and issue(s) being studied • recognise the provisional nature of historical knowledge—that written histories are an interpretation of available evidence and that new evidence may alter our historical understanding • show understanding of the broader historical context of research findings. 4 LESSON ONE JaMES CONNOLLY’s shirt, 1916 James Connolly’s involvement in the Lockout, 1913 Identify learning outcomes with the students, to include: • Determining James Connolly’s role in the 1916 Rising. • Identification of the relevance of the undershirt and linking its key feature (blood stain) to available documentary evidence. • Examination of primary and secondary sources in relation to James Connolly’s involvement in 1916 and his execution. Display the image of James Connolly’s shirt (behind the ‘Look’ button). Inform the class that the shirt and vest worn by Connolly were lent by Mrs Nora Connolly-O’Brien (James Connolly’s daughter) to the National Museum of Ireland on 30 April 1941, and have been in the museum’s care since then. VISUAL INTERROGATION Using the image of James Connolly’s shirt (behind the ‘Look’ button); hold a brainstorming session, asking students in what type of a repository the shirt is housed, and to identify individual features of interest on the shirt. This can be done by individual note-making or by asking students in turn to come to the whiteboard, pinpoint aspects of interest and perhaps annotate them with arrows to the adjacent white areas of the board. READING ‘James Connolly’s shirt, 1916’, from A History of Ireland in 100 Objects (behind the ‘Read’ button). To be read aloud either by the teacher or an individual student, or silently in groups. Evidence enquiry and exploration questions for group work or class